Marcy will replace John M. Burns, who is retiring to return to the classroom.

"It's one of those things where you can envision yourself doing it," Marcy said. "But you never really think about it, and then you're accepting the offer."

Marcy currently serves as dean of the College of Engineering at Texas Tech, a position he has held since 1998. The Lubbock native has bachelor's and master's de grees in electrical engineering from Texas Tech. Marcy also earned a Ph.D in engineering from Tech.

"It means a lot," Marcy said of the new position. "The provost's job is to breathe life into the president's plan. And to me that's exciting because of my engineering background."

Marcy's salary will be $190,000 per year.

He began his career at Texas Tech as a faculty member in the College of En gineering in 1975 after working for eight years in the Central Intelligence Agency as chief of the engineering and planning branch. Marcy served as associate dean of engineering and chairman of the department of computer science prior to serving as dean.

The provost is the chief academic officer at Texas Tech. Deans of each of the university's college's report to the provost, as do the Libraries of Texas Tech University, the Texas Tech University Press, the Museum of Texas Tech University, the National Ranching Heritage Center, KOHM-FM and KTXT-TV.